"You obviously do this for a living¡­"
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 8:17 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

Yes, he demonstrated that someone who's quick witted, articulate and charismatic could comfortably do their job - but would be bored out of their mind with the vacuity of it all.
posted by wilful at 8:22 PM on June 18, 2013 [12 favorites]

i tried watching this earlier today and was rather disappointed that, when asked serious questions (So what's the deal with Snowden?) they responded like on-topic robots (You look weird!!!)
posted by rebent at 8:26 PM on June 18, 2013 [6 favorites]

Kathy Kay did the equivalent of "You're a comedian? Tell me a joke."
posted by Apropos of Something at 8:28 PM on June 18, 2013

Wow, that went delightfully off the rails. Wish I had a British accent.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 8:29 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

I learned that when talking about someone present in the third person, it's polite to refer to them by name instead of pronoun. Thanks, Willy Brandt!
posted by not_on_display at 8:32 PM on June 18, 2013 [22 favorites]

He completely walked all over them.

Wish I had a British accent.
It is as marvellous as you think it is.
posted by arcticseal at 8:32 PM on June 18, 2013 [18 favorites]

"You need to lose that ring, Mika, because it don't mean nothing to you."

hahahahahahahahahahaha oh man
posted by FatherDagon at 8:33 PM on June 18, 2013 [12 favorites]

I read that as Mr. Brand trying desperately to have a reasonable conversation with other human beings and the news anchors wishing very much to be talking about rather than to him.
posted by JDHarper at 8:35 PM on June 18, 2013 [18 favorites]

"Shaft grasper"
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 8:35 PM on June 18, 2013 [4 favorites]

I've read about guests invited to 19th century dinner parties and such because they were effectively professional conversationalists and always wondered how that would work. I think I can see now. That was basically the verbal equivalent of Toshiro Mifune cutting down a few town thugs in Yojimbo.
posted by Schismatic at 8:37 PM on June 18, 2013 [13 favorites]

Good God, what a terrible joke that "Morning Joe" show is.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 8:38 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

I do not like Russell Brand.

Except now I do. This was excellent.
posted by MexicanYenta at 8:38 PM on June 18, 2013 [33 favorites]

I think that may be the best thing I have ever seen.
posted by fikri at 8:39 PM on June 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

Now think about how much worse this would have been had Joe Scarborough been present.
posted by Justinian at 8:39 PM on June 18, 2013 [9 favorites]

People who underestimate Brand do so at their peril. He is a very intelligent and articulate guy with a wit that's cocaine-quick, even though he apparently swore off the stuff long ago.

A while back he was on Jimmy Kimmel and went off on some riff that the audience wasn't really going for.

"Pardon me," he finally said. "But I wandered far out on a peninsula of idiocy, and it was some time before I realized how lonely I truly was."

I mean, that's almost like a line from a lesser Shakespeare play.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 8:41 PM on June 18, 2013 [139 favorites]

I do not like Russell Brand.

Neither did I, until his piece on Margaret Thatcher.

This is just great.
posted by figurant at 8:41 PM on June 18, 2013 [15 favorites]

Russell Brand keeps doing, writing and saying things that demonstrate he's a smart man with values I appreciate, which really runs counter to the character of self-absorbed ass he also (has previously?) projected.

I like this weirdly smart & funny man.
posted by Heart_on_Sleeve at 8:42 PM on June 18, 2013 [17 favorites]

It's great but...depressing. Very depressing.
posted by sweetkid at 8:42 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

That was amazing. So amazing that the pessimist in me suspects that it was a publicity stunt which Russell arranged to get internet cred... but if that is not the case, then.. awesome!
posted by jeisme at 8:43 PM on June 18, 2013

I think he could make a great living just by going on every media blowhard's show and performing this same civic duty of shutting them down and embarrassing them in this same vein. As a matter of fact, I'd definitely pay into that Kickstarter.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 8:44 PM on June 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

He is a very intelligent and articulate guy with a wit that's cocaine-quick,

Yes, the first time I heard any kind of in-depth interview with him I was totally charmed.

Good God, what a terrible joke that "Morning Joe" show is.

I like Paul F. Tompkins' description of it: "It's like if your parents had a tv show."
posted by Room 641-A at 8:47 PM on June 18, 2013 [18 favorites]

I saw Sara Marshall & Get Him to the Greek, and I thought he was really funny.

Then I heard him in interciews going on and on and on about his love for Katy Perry, and I stopped liking him.

then I see this, and I really like him again; he was fantastic. I only wish he'd cut a little deeper for a while longer.
posted by MoxieProxy at 8:48 PM on June 18, 2013

Russell Brand being both funny and serious when testifying about substance addiction. A pretty strong piece of evidence that the image of Brand as some kind of entitled rich ass is just that, an image he picked up as a byproduct of some of his roles.
posted by axiom at 8:50 PM on June 18, 2013 [16 favorites]

By God if he's not taking on the mantle of Bill Hicks. And doing a fairly good job of it if this is any indication. I had no idea. It's not the pure undiluted stuff but it's close enough for me.
posted by scalefree at 8:53 PM on June 18, 2013 [2 favorites]

Yes, the first time I heard any kind of in-depth interview with him I was totally charmed.

Absolutely. An interview of him by Dawn French got linked here a couple of years ago and all of a sudden I had to take Russell seriously instead of blowing him off as a drugged-up lunatic who just blurted out offensiveness. It turns out he's a surprisingly smart guy who's gotten mixed up in some weird situations having to do with American fame, but there are definitely times where it seems like he's weathered them knowingly, and I honestly not only wish him the best but want to see more of him, knowing that there's a somewhat more intelligent version of him underneath the ridiculous act.
posted by Copronymus at 8:54 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

I love this kind of thing. The humor of discomfort and honesty, which is totally out of place on American television.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:58 PM on June 18, 2013 [6 favorites]

The humor of discomfort and honesty, which is totally out of place on American television.

Yes but have you watched British or Australian morning television? It is exactly like this. I mean the hosts. We are not alone in our cheeseball soulless morning TV.
posted by sweetkid at 9:05 PM on June 18, 2013 [2 favorites]

That was hilarious. Kind of fish-in-a-barrel towards the end, but hilarious.
posted by carter at 9:05 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

Did she just say that the Brand experience was "taking it all in"? Really? That's what she said?
posted by maryr at 9:12 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

Then of course there's this interview with two members of the Westboro Baptist Church, which reveals as much about his own empathy and humanity as it does about their horrible pomposity.

This Morning Joe appearance I find just fascinating. He's not necessarily itching for a fight, he's just looking for a modicum of authenticity and not finding it anywhere he looks, and responds like an overly rambunctious puppy who finds three hapless baby rats under a log.
posted by vverse23 at 9:13 PM on June 18, 2013 [28 favorites]

I think we have a replacement for the Voight-Kampff test.
posted by winna at 9:15 PM on June 18, 2013 [17 favorites]

God those announcers give me the creeps. What a bunch of assholes.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:16 PM on June 18, 2013 [4 favorites]

I had a brain-fart and thought it was going to be Russell on Fox & Friends. I like what he did, but I was hoping for so much more.
posted by benito.strauss at 9:17 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

I love him and I hope to god he never ends up a late night chat show host on US television.
posted by fingerbang at 9:19 PM on June 18, 2013

I was just saying to some friends that he plays the goofy-doofus-with-the-accent so well our American brains go "HA HA LOOK AT THE SILLY MONKEY MAN WHO TALKS FUNNY" but he's actually a really smart guy and if you let him get his teeth into you, he'll tear out some serious chunks.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 9:21 PM on June 18, 2013 [2 favorites]

I...how can you people make it through this video? I keep trying, but I can only listen to about 20 seconds at a time before the announcers make me so uncomfortable that I have to pause the video again. It's taken me 10 minutes to get through the first 5 minutes. It's like...like watching your own mother doing a standup comedy routine on stage. Absolutely excruciating.
posted by Bugbread at 9:22 PM on June 18, 2013 [33 favorites]

I like how one of the dimwitted hosts referred to him as "Willy", as in "Willy Brandt." Like, "what the fuck? These jokers get paid for this?"

I frequently say it on MetaFilter, but these plastic, sociopathic announcers are like something straight out of some dystopic middle-period Philip K. Dick novel.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:31 PM on June 18, 2013 [15 favorites]

I have never seen this show before. That Mika...is she, ummm, 'all there', so to speak?

Seriously. What a vacuous trio of nimrods.
posted by Salamander at 9:34 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

"A Different Kind of Patriotism": Russell Brand on Bradley Manning
posted by homunculus at 9:37 PM on June 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

The link provided by axiom was great. And on a totally superficial note, the necklace he is wearing while testifying is absolutely perfect!
posted by leftcoastbob at 9:38 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

The babbleheads just ran out of momentum. Someone just needed to tap them lightly on their heads to get them nodding again. Instead Brand grabbed their heads and held them perfectly still and peered into their hollow skulls.
posted by srboisvert at 9:39 PM on June 18, 2013 [38 favorites]

That Mika...is she, ummm, 'all there', so to speak?

She's the daughter of Zbigniew Brzezinski
posted by empath at 9:46 PM on June 18, 2013 [4 favorites]

Shows how much money you can make if you don't mind looking like an idiot, and how few people will look like that much of an idiot even for that kind of money.
posted by Repack Rider at 9:52 PM on June 18, 2013

Yeah, I'll take "What is the German compound word for 'Somewhat heartening but mostly crushingly depressing'?" for 1000, Alex.
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 9:58 PM on June 18, 2013 [4 favorites]

A potato could outsmart the Morning Joe crew.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:00 PM on June 18, 2013 [4 favorites]

Come to think of it, a potato could host Morning Joe.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:01 PM on June 18, 2013 [13 favorites]

Did she just say that the Brand experience was "taking it all in"?

I read the entire first half of the video as Brand putting moves all over the host with short blonde hair, and the second half as her finally picking up on it. She reacts with that too-obvious line and then gets herself a little flustered over the on-air flub.

I too could not finish the video, it was like watching fish asphyxiate.
posted by carsonb at 10:03 PM on June 18, 2013 [5 favorites]

The link provided by axiom was great

The "Dad's Army" quip at the end (in response to a Tory dinosaur wheezing that "this is not a variety show") was pretty funny.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:08 PM on June 18, 2013

I'd like to see him on the Fox Five, or Fox and Friends instead.

Also, how do you hire people to host a live interview show who are so bad at thinking on their feet?
posted by codacorolla at 10:26 PM on June 18, 2013

a potato could host Morning Joe
You haven't seen Scarborough before make-up...
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:29 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

OK, I wasn't making sense of the shaft-grasper comments so I swallowed hard and finished the video. Oh. Oh my.
posted by carsonb at 10:30 PM on June 18, 2013

Ha ha this is great.

My opinion of Russel changed after I read his piece on Margaret Thatcher that was posted up thread. I realized their was more to this guy then the persona in the couple of movies I saw which I didn't like much.

He's very intelligent and quick witted. My only complaint is at times I find him tiring to watch. Just keeping up with where his mind goes can be exhausting (in a good way). I find that I've ended up watching some of his stuff several times just to make sure I've caught it all. He's awesome.
posted by Jalliah at 10:33 PM on June 18, 2013

In her defense, Mika couldn't really think straight because of the sexual tension that made her knees weak and her brain turn to jelly.

Don't really know what Brian's problem was, though.
posted by leftcoastbob at 10:36 PM on June 18, 2013 [9 favorites]

MSNBC in general (save for a very, very few parts) is more of an exercise in self-created, self-absorbed cult of personality generation than delivery of significant and relevant news content. And MJoe leads the way each morning by the turds who host it with a continual drone of auto-back-patting and sycophantic adulation of guests they can get to show up. As the guest are usually there to shill something, it results in the entire broadcast being pretty much either a festival of self-love or a slightly more polished Head On Scammercial posing as tv news journalism.

Good for Brand. Glad to see he got his digs in before they cut him off, which is usually what happens.

All I can say is, Sham Wow.
posted by lampshade at 10:40 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

Also, how do you hire people to host a live interview show who are so bad at thinking on their feet?

You hire people that are good at mouthing nuggets of conventional wisdom. You don't want anybody that actually thinks, that's too off-putting.
posted by empath at 10:48 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

I frequently say it on MetaFilter, but these plastic, sociopathic announcers are like something straight out of some dystopic middle-period Philip K. Dick novel.

What's brilliant about "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" AKA Bladerunner is that when all of the TV personalities are revealed to be androids, and subversive androids at that, and they announce on the air, that it's all lies, all of it, it doesn't matter because we are all androids and the only thing that makes us human is that we believe in that toad we found and mercer's sacrifice and that if we treat our electric like it was real and no one knows the difference it doesn't matter.

We are all robots.
posted by ennui.bz at 11:02 PM on June 18, 2013 [6 favorites]

Seriously, those anchors are characters right out of Invitation to a Beheading.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 11:02 PM on June 18, 2013 [2 favorites]

Now think about how much worse this would have been had Joe Scarborough been present.

You misspelled "better". Scarborough is such a smug prick; Russell Brand could easily take him down a few notches.
posted by zardoz at 11:36 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

Room 641-A: "I like Paul F. Tompkins' description of it: "It's like if your parents had a tv show.""

Bingo! More like, my 2nd cousin and my step-mother, but same difference.
posted by krinklyfig at 11:51 PM on June 18, 2013

Brand talking to Jeremy Paxman about fame and the media.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:58 PM on June 18, 2013 [10 favorites]

Yeah, I was definitely in the not-getting-Brand category until I saw this video earlier today and realized I'd probably misunderstood him. Reading the Thatcher eulogy, I realize I also massively underestimated him.

I hope I'm not being reductive but it seems Thatcher's time in power was solely spent diminishing the resources of those who had least for the advancement of those who had most. I know from my own indulgence in selfish behaviour that it's much easier to get what you want if you remove from consideration the effect your actions will have on others.

Those are two astounding sentences, dense with wisdom, and maybe the only two sentences I've read about Thatcher's passing that are worth remembering.
posted by gompa at 12:19 AM on June 19, 2013 [30 favorites]

Brand talking to Jeremy Paxman about fame and the media.

EndsOfInvention, thanks so much for this. Awesome, just awesome.
posted by Mister Bijou at 12:27 AM on June 19, 2013

Wow. I have lost all my desensitisation to television. I am hearing from you all how funny Brand was, but I couldn't actually watch a whole minute of those hosts. I was physically cringing away from my screen.
posted by Catch at 1:13 AM on June 19, 2013 [3 favorites]

Yeah its really hard to watch, because the hosts do seem to genuinely think of him as a monkey there for them to comment on and be amused by, rather than a person with whom they can engage. Every single time he directly addresses them they make some comment (to each other) about not being able to understand him. It kind of makes me value terrible morning television in the UK. Not that I watch it anymore...
posted by Cannon Fodder at 2:14 AM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

Whats going on here is a bit more complicated than it looks.

Chat shows are not about genuine social interaction - a guest on these shows is typically there to promote a book or tour or something and provide some light entertainment. The hosts are there to smooth things along and keep it unchallenging for the viewer. The general rule is that the guest is trading some publicity for some chat, and if they're unlucky, a probing question or two. E.g. see analysis of the recent Rhys Ifans interview and the absurdity of pr interviews

The hosts have probably been briefed that Russell is unlikely to play along with the usual comfortable guest/host model, so they have a deliberate containment strategy of talking to each other about him whenever he is stepping out line. Its not that they think hes a monkey there to amuse them - they're just trying to keep their trivial little show on the rails. There are a few traditional "ask a question, get an answer" exchanges in there, but most of the time Russell is trying to break out of that.

And good for him. He handles it all well and stays good humoured.

But the hosts are not as bad as you think - they are there to deliver comfy unchallenging triviality and thats what they're trying to do. The overall problem, I guess, is that there's far too much piffle like that on the airwaves, but surely thats an inevitable consequence of having 10 or 12 news channels broadcasting 24 hours a day - you can't have every programme talking about serious issues. But, the USA does need to work on its piffle to serious ratio.
posted by memebake at 2:53 AM on June 19, 2013 [20 favorites]

I'm probably weird because outside of vague cultural awareness including the whole Katy Perry angle, the only thing I'm sure I've seen him in is Julie Taymor's The Tempest. He is not out of place as a Shakespearean jester character (that's Djimon Hounsou as Caliban). High praise from Taymor via Mirren.

We are not alone in our cheeseball soulless morning TV.

Well, there's a commonality in that it's TV for people who are just waking up. Not actually meant to inform, but to pseudo-inform. If it isn't all false-cheery and frothy like your whipped mocha, well, people turn it off.

because the hosts do seem to genuinely think of him as a monkey there for them to comment on and be amused by, rather than a person with whom they can engage

In some senses it's a game and he just wasn't playing, the way American Splendor's Harvey Pekar wouldn't when he was on Letterman until he just couldn't take it anymore. It's very hilarious to watch and I didn't really understand why he objected (he's wearing an ON STRIKE AGAINST NBC shirt there) until I saw the movie and the other side of the camera, so to speak. To be one of these ball-playing TV personalities you have to not only be funny but willing to, in a way, cover the other players.
posted by dhartung at 3:01 AM on June 19, 2013 [2 favorites]

A little more snark from a little more rock, person, on a morning show:

Stephen Malkmus
posted by coolxcool=rad at 3:45 AM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

I generally don't like Brand but he absolutely killed, there. Wonderful to see that format treated so casually and humorously. Upbraiding them on their manners, breaking the fourth wall, showing them how to do their job and completely flustering the female American presenter... golden.
posted by Decani at 3:54 AM on June 19, 2013

Of course the hosts understand what is going on. Russell Brand's schtick is not a new thing.

Like memebake says, there are rules of engagement to any broadcast interview, but in morning shows the aim is to fit something unchallenging in within a modest timeframe because viewers will only spend x time in front of the TV and want news, weather, some human interest and something to take to the water cooler.

The presenter's job is not easy as easy as it looks - not least because they have to get up at 4am, look massively interested in a talking dog or whatnot and generally have to repeat that look of genuine interest as items are repeated on live TV. On top of that pauses and periods where someone doesn't know what camera to look at or what to say next or where to take the conversation look and feel a lot longer even if they last less than a second. It is a badge of honour to make it look easy. Reading off an autocue for a recorded program is something different - almost any old mug can do it if they are telegenic enough because someone else will write the script and they get as many takes as they need.

Also: the presenters are not, generally speaking, there to project their views. Their reactions are supposed to mirror those of their audience. Who has just woken up, switched on the TV and is looking for something one level above elevator music as they go about preparing themselves for the day. For example, Katty Kay has a degree from Oxford and nearly 25 years of political broadcasting experience. She's also got four kids and it's not hard to imagine that a stable gig in one place, at the same time is the deal she's made with herself to keep doing a version of what she loves and have a family life.

As for Russell Brand - he *is* there as the performing monkey. He is smart enough to know the game, and smart enough to position himself as the court jester middle class America or Britain expect to metaphorically pull people's pants down and subvert the genre. It would be tedious to watch every morning, but is extremely amusing in short sharp doses. In return for being given the latitude to hold the camera focus and dominate the segment, he provides a point of interest. As a quid pro quo he gets to show everyone how wacky and irreverent he is and plug his project.

I didn't find it cringeworthy at all. I can imagine the hosts breathing a sigh of relief because anything that goes off script invites risk and uncomfortable pauses but the show's producers will have been pretty happy with the flow of how things went and the outcome.
posted by MuffinMan at 4:02 AM on June 19, 2013 [10 favorites]

"Who is Willy?"

Douche chill!

And Brezinski jr. used to also make stands against letting superficial information decide the news agenda. Wonder what changed?
posted by mediated self at 4:15 AM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

Joyfull. Mr Brand seems to have gained some control and focus since his resignation from the BBC under a cloud in 2008. I really dislike his acting but adore his social commentary be it stand up or writing. What I particularly liked about that piece was that he wasn't trying to be disruptive, it simply seemed to happen.
posted by BenPens at 4:37 AM on June 19, 2013

Then I heard him in interviews going on and on and on about his love for Katy Perry, and I stopped liking him.

This in mind, I am beginning to wonder how much her private persona deviates from her public image. I doubt he married her (for those few years) just because she's pretty.

Also: the presenters are not, generally speaking, there to project their views. Their reactions are supposed to mirror those of their audience.

OK, but Joe Scarborough's views are not exactly in line with the MSNBC Demographic as it's generally understood, so...?
posted by psoas at 4:44 AM on June 19, 2013

Morning Joe starrring Russell Brand and these dorks--I would watch the bejeesis out of that.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:52 AM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

I hold Mika somewhat dear in my heart for trying to burn a Paris Hilton news script on air. Sure, it was probably staged, but it takes some balls to go through with it. She's also probably the smartest one on the show, but unfortunately her role is to say something reasonable so that Joe can tell her how stupid her idea is, or to be mocked by the other hosts for not knowing something trivial about sports or cars; it's terribly sexist.
posted by AzraelBrown at 4:54 AM on June 19, 2013 [3 favorites]

Deliciousness all around.

Early on, you can see Brand genuinely becoming uncomfortable and his brain scrambling for an appropriate response.

I got the feeling he knew he could have just completely gone off on them, but I do think it's a testament to his intelligence and quick wit that not only did he initiate a successful verbal assault/parry with those absolute ninnies, but at the end when he shuffles the stack of papers and then proceeds to do their hosting jobs better than they ever could, while they just stare with their rictus smiles plastered to their dopey faces...

that was sublimely tasty.
posted by kinetic at 4:58 AM on June 19, 2013 [2 favorites]

Has no one called out Brand for sexually harassing the host in the first 30 seconds of the video? She's at her job, and he's telling her to be careful when leaning over because her dress is too low-cut and he's "red-blooded?" Yeah, I'd be flustered, too. That's not sexual tension, it's straight up sexism. Maybe they objectified him by speaking about him in the third person, but he did it first by reducing her to pair of tits in front of a national audience.
posted by Lieber Frau at 5:04 AM on June 19, 2013 [13 favorites]

In her defense, Mika couldn't really think straight because of the sexual tension that made her knees weak and her brain turn to jelly.

He did seem to be hitting on her pretty hard - she took a while to realise (despite the "Mika, you look lovely, Katy you can where whatever you're comfortable with" clear pointer). It seemed to me that Mika had a sudden "oh he's ACTUALLY hitting on me" moment which completely flustered her and she couldn't quite get back on track because of the 'needle of the record' way she suddenly realised what he was doing.
posted by Brockles at 5:21 AM on June 19, 2013

Has no one called out Brand for sexually harassing the host in the first 30 seconds of the video?

I don't wish to defend him, but that sort of behavior is very much a part of his public persona and I'm sure they were expecting it. It seemed like the host even played up her flustered reaction, possibly in order to keep the momentum going and to give him more opportunities for further comments. These people are professionals and I highly doubt they can be thrown off to the point of being stunned. Again, I don't agree with that behavior at all, but I think everyone was just playing along here.
posted by orme at 5:29 AM on June 19, 2013

Has no one called out Brand for sexually harassing the host in the first 30 seconds of the video?

You could see at the very beginning, when she made a big pretense of not knowing who Brand was -- on grounds that she wasn't "pop-cultural" enough -- that he made a decision to keep her on the hook. I think all his (astonishingly gentle) analysis of the hosts' rudeness stemmed from that first slight. It was indeed a rude way to treat a guest, though perhaps motivated by the same faux-populism that inspired the guy with the nice tie to tell the other hosts that he couldn't understand Brand's accent.

In fact, before Brand could say a thing, Mika and the other hosts had already reduced him to a patch of chest hair. Brand is a smart and compassionate guy, and I felt like he decided to challenge the hosts' lookism and sexual objectification of him in the same way he did their rudeness. His comment about her leaning too far forward seemed rather tit-for-tat: if the Morning Joe squad hadn't looked down his shirt first, I think things would have progressed very differently.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 5:32 AM on June 19, 2013 [39 favorites]

Morning talk TV is something that's intended as background noise for people struggling to get up and face their day. The hosts could just spew nonsense syllables for three hours and no one would notice. Now Brand goes and spoils it all by actually making you want to watch for what's being said.

Good for him.
posted by tommasz at 5:35 AM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

From his Thatcher piece:

.....if you opposed Thatcher's ideas it was likely because of their lack of compassion, which is really just a word for love. If love is something you cherish, it is hard to glean much joy from death, even in one's enemies.

posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 5:49 AM on June 19, 2013 [10 favorites]

Maybe they objectified him by speaking about him in the third person, but he did it first by reducing her to pair of tits in front of a national audience.

That's not true, Lieber Frau. As Ice Cream Socialist notes, they talk about his chest hair, kinky boots and "fantastic" looks right out of the gate, before he comments about the host leaning over to fix the table in a low-cut dress. "He did it first" is 180 degrees off from what happened; he's just responding in kind.
posted by mediareport at 5:51 AM on June 19, 2013 [3 favorites]

Russel Brand, like a lot of people, can be maddening. He's quick-witted and very affable, and he's more than willing to put up a fight, which, as this demonstrates, he does well. But he's an (admittedly, if you've read his books) very damaged man, and his relationship with women -- both privately and in public -- tends to be pretty questionable. He's also capable of enormous cruelty.

I guess this is one of those "admitting that art or an artist in problematic doesn't preclude the possibility of enjoying the art or artist" that has shown up in threads about feminist takes on popular culture. There are problems with Russel Brand, and will likely always be. That flirty persona seems locked in place, and oftentime spills over into seeming like he's only capable of interacting with women as sexual objects, regardless of the appropriateness. And "they did it first" is never justification for behavior that minimizes somebody on the basis of their gender.

That being said, this is the path you have to walk with Brand, and, even knowing that there are problems, he is capable of extraordinary work. He is, after all, one of the starts of Don't You Go Rounin' Roun to Re Ro.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 5:55 AM on June 19, 2013 [11 favorites]

I don't think he was responding in kind. I think he was responding with the easiest tool at hand, a blithely reductive comment about her secondary sexual characteristics. I'm not really seeing the awesome wit that takes. Stephen Fry (or Patton Oswalt, post-epiphany, bless him) wouldn't have had to go there.
posted by Lieber Frau at 6:07 AM on June 19, 2013

And "they did it first" is never justification for behavior that minimizes somebody on the basis of their gender.

I don't think that's the argument being made. Rather people are saying "The weird sexist comment wasn't the thing that led to the hosts being rude" because that started right at the beginning with the chest hair comment.

I'm kind of hoping Katty Kay went "What the hell is wrong with you?" to whoever the guy was after they went off air. He was all "Let me mock someone from the same country as you for having an accent different to mine and expect you to participate in it."
posted by hoyland at 6:07 AM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

Stephen Fry (or Patton Oswalt, post-epiphany, bless him) wouldn't have had to go there.

You have not watched enough QI if you think Fry doesn't go there.
posted by srboisvert at 6:29 AM on June 19, 2013 [8 favorites]

This seems like the most painful setup for an interview ever, but the moment Brand says "This is very tasteful and I'll do it," you know it's going places.
posted by 256 at 6:30 AM on June 19, 2013

Willy Brandt.
posted by Mid at 6:43 AM on June 19, 2013

Ah, Morning Joe. The gateway drug to Fox News.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:44 AM on June 19, 2013

I cam in here to link the article that homunculus linked, about the "I Am Bradley Manning" video (very much worth watching) and the interview with Brand. I am really happy to see that he has taken up the whistleblower issue as a cause that is important to him and is willing to talk about it whenever possible.

Also as an FYI, Russell Brand is on this week's episode of Question Time on BBC1, which is a great show to watch normally but will be even better with Russell on ( I think this may be his first time on as a panelist). To make things even more enticing, he'll be going head to head with Boris Johnson, also on the panel. Tomorrow night at 4:35 CST/5:35 EST on BBC iplayer!

It's my birthday tomorrow, and I genuinely have been super excited that my birthday present will be one of my favorite shows with some of my favorite panelists/guests on. The only thing better would be if I could actually get a call back to be in the audience but it has yet to happen despite all the times I've applied. Bit sad but there you go.
posted by triggerfinger at 6:46 AM on June 19, 2013

I wanted to watch this but I just can't get through the morning show banter. It's agonizing.
posted by Legomancer at 6:53 AM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

I appreciate the confirmation that I'm not missing out on anything by listening to Morning Edition.

As terrible as this was, the absolute nadir of early-morning television has got to be CNN's ill-fated "Wake-Em-Up" segment.
posted by schmod at 6:54 AM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

With Norm Macdonald...
posted by xjudson at 7:10 AM on June 19, 2013 [2 favorites]

I can't wait for him to grow up.
I mean that in most sincere and nicest way possible.
He has severe issues with women and as he grows and overcomes them I believe he will become a serious commentator, think Carlin or Bruce rather than Hicks.

That's not to sat he isn't already. I just feel his remarkable intelligence and empathy seem to be be stifled by whatever drives him to, excuse my crudeness, be a six-foot tall erect penis.

Sex is fun, but that way lies unusual views on throat cancer.
posted by fullerine at 7:15 AM on June 19, 2013 [4 favorites]

I kept hearing about this with so much seemingly overblown hype about how Brand destroyed the hosts. It wasn't overblown. That was embarrassing. He was just toying with them and they really seemed to have no clue what was happening or what to do about it. What a nice job of revealing the robot behind the curtain.
posted by caddis at 7:42 AM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

It has definitely been a fun ride! Now, I understand you've got some cooking tips for us, Diane... I understand you've got some cooking tips for us, Diane... I understand you've got some cooking tips for us, Diane...
posted by entropicamericana at 8:02 AM on June 19, 2013 [3 favorites]

'She's a shaft graspah!"
posted by Liquidwolf at 8:08 AM on June 19, 2013

What I find most, uh, horrible about it was that the 'hosts' were kind of like a clique from middle/jr. high school, one of those cliques that have their own set of assumptions and jokes and rules - that I know nothing about, but that I know I find at least mildly off-putting. Then I leave them and over the next hour or so find myself gradually growing furious with how offensive and weird and horrible they were.
Brand (Willy Brandt, like, seriously? Are you a grown person making that mistake because I find that really pretty monumentally less-bright-than-you-should-at-least-pretend-to ) manages to intercept that and take it apart, for which I admire him.
But really, at the end I just really didn't like any of those people. I give props to Brand though for calling them out on their baldly rude behavior.
Behavior which other people watching will then emulate, and think is normal.
posted by From Bklyn at 8:25 AM on June 19, 2013 [3 favorites]

Willy Brandt, like, seriously? Are you a grown person making that mistake because I find that really pretty monumentally less-bright-than-you-should-at-least-pretend-to

This was super-cringeworthy¡ªas it always is when names are mixed up in a social setting¡ªbut it doesn't seem weird to me that it would happen once in a while, even to someone as capable as Ms. Kay.
posted by glhaynes at 8:32 AM on June 19, 2013

That Jeremy Paxman interview with Brand is amazing and the Westoboro Baptist is equally good.

I don't think I've ever seen Brand acting in anything or even seen any of his stand-up, so he was just a kind of irritating public figure to me, but his interview with Marc Maron was so insightful and intimate, it totally won me over to him. [It's a premium episode, so you can't hear it without paying, sadly. There are a number of interviews you get with the premium subscription that makes it worth the $9 for a year, though, in my opinion.]
posted by looli at 8:32 AM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

MoxieProxy: Then I heard him in interciews going on and on and on about his love for Katy Perry, and I stopped liking him.

You dislike him because he loved his wife? WTF?
posted by IAmBroom at 8:37 AM on June 19, 2013 [3 favorites]

This clip is a perfect example of why I feel like I'm trapped in the bottom of a well whenever I'm in a waiting room with network or cable news. It makes me feel like I am losing brain cells by the second.

It was hard to sit through 8 minutes of that even with the Russell Brand painfully-awkward-entertainment factor... I can't imagine what it must be like to watch those people on a normal morning.
posted by usonian at 8:53 AM on June 19, 2013 [3 favorites]

Oof. I couldn't watch much of that - presenters on US telly are almost impossible to look at at the best of times, but when you add gross incompetence to the neon grins, hairspray helmets and Romney-ish robo-smarm it's just too much cringe to take.

Also as an FYI, Russell Brand is on this week's episode of Question Time on BBC1, which is a great show to watch normally but will be even better with Russell on ( I think this may be his first time on as a panelist). To make things even more enticing, he'll be going head to head with Boris Johnson, also on the panel.

Ooh, that'll be interesting if Dimbleby loses his grip. Not that Johnson could do anything in response to a thorough dressing down beyond spunking out some hackneyed Latin tags with a whinny, a neigh and a toss of his straw-like mane.

Brand's also on Richard Herring's podcast this week - the one that hit the news recently when Stephen Fry talked about his suicide attempts - and I'm rather looking forward to his answers to Herring's daft stock questions ("Have you ever seen a ghost?"; "Would you prefer a hand made of ham or an armpit that dispenses sun tan lotion?", &c.).
posted by jack_mo at 8:55 AM on June 19, 2013 [2 favorites]

You have not watched enough QI if you think Fry doesn't go there

Yeah, I remember Fry on Jonathan Ross' show making a gag about France's military cowardice and readiness to bend the knee to Fritz which, while it went over very well with the pubby, new-lad audience, was a lazy spike of a lazy setup. Obviously, nobody's at 100% all the time, but I was enjoying Brand so much more before he started insisting that the female presenter must want to jerk him off...
posted by running order squabble fest at 8:58 AM on June 19, 2013

Russell Brand just looks absolutely furious when he's being introduced in the beginning. I'm wondering if something had happened just before they taped.
posted by Kattullus at 9:18 AM on June 19, 2013 [2 favorites]

Some of my favourite actors and comedians have a mental illness. Susan Calman recently did a wonderful radio program (Susan Calman is convicted) which had an episode on her depression. Having depression myself, I really related.
posted by jb at 9:30 AM on June 19, 2013 [2 favorites]

I think all his (astonishingly gentle) analysis of the hosts' rudeness stemmed from that first slight.

Absolutely. (I read thru all the comments to make sure someone noted it.)

There was clearly something going on before the exchange.

"He's a big deal, right?"

"He's a big deal."

"I'm told this. I'm not very pop cultured, I'm sorry ... "

Right off the bat, that's an intentional, overt, offensive tone for an interviewer to take with a "celebrity," and you can tell from his subsequent stare and eye-rolling as a sign he did not like it one bit.

As awkward as the rest is, it's mostly b/c he's decided "I don't like these people and I want to fuck with them." He's going off the script in a manner they can't follow, but it's not that entertaining or destroying. Putting him in the third person is an easy way to distance his speech as "performance." (Also the "I get it now" comments as if it's all an act.)

I'm not super familiar with Brand, but it's amazing how much he sounds like Davy Jones to me. (Then listening to Jones, it's not really that close. True story.)

"You obviously do this for a living¡­"

The actual quote is "Is this what you all do for a living?"

I can't wait for him to grow up.

That sounds about right. It seems like his heart and mind are in the right place, but he can't manage his emotions.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:35 AM on June 19, 2013

Bugbread: I...how can you people make it through this video?

I'm in the middle of a huge big project I should really be spending every conscious moment working on. There is nothing I can't watch, listen or read if it's in the stead of doing whatever it is that I'm supposed to be doing. The power of procrastination compelled me to watch the video all the way through every excruciating second.
posted by Kattullus at 9:39 AM on June 19, 2013 [10 favorites]

Russel Brand is something like if you took Bill Hicks' brain and transplanted it into circa 1974 Robert Plant's body, wardrobe, and ego. In the best way possible.
posted by Cookiebastard at 10:04 AM on June 19, 2013 [2 favorites]

Kattullus: I think you're right & Mika alludes to the fact that they've exchanged words in her introduction. He'd pretty much decided to fuck with them before she even opened her mouth on air.
posted by pharm at 10:23 AM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

I first encountered Russell Brand through his columns in the Guardian, long before he became Mr. Katy Perry for a while. He just sounded like another intelligent, witty Englishman - I had no idea that he was a pop culture icon or anything like that.

Here's his Guardian article on addiction from an insider's perspective. (And here is a link to all of his other Guardian columns.)
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 10:25 AM on June 19, 2013 [2 favorites]

Ooh, that'll be interesting if Dimbleby loses his grip. Not that Johnson could do anything in response to a thorough dressing down beyond spunking out some hackneyed Latin tags with a whinny, a neigh and a toss of his straw-like mane.

I think David Dimbleby ususaly does a pretty good job. He had to deal with George Galloway and Nigel Farage on the same panel last week, so this week will probably be like a welcome break.
posted by triggerfinger at 10:27 AM on June 19, 2013

I'm perplexed by the claims that Brand somehow destroyed his hosts in this appearance. Sure, their responses to him would be a turn-off to the average mefite, but their responses likewise were finely calibrated with the sensibilities of the average Morning Joe viewer. We may write their reactions to Brand off as idiocy, but many viewers would find their collective befuddlement quite human and immensely reassuring. They kindly turn to the camera, shrug, and say "We don't get this wild Englishman either." Furthermore, the morning news format has made the loss of composure into an asset. Let the evening news anchors maintain that professional veneer. Morning hosts are supposed to be more flawed and approachable. So, I agree with MuffinMan's earlier post and want to emphasize even more that, if Metafilter were full of praise for the Morning Joe hosts' response to Brand, then that would probably mean they were ill-serving their viewers. These are professionals who know what they are doing and know their audience very well.
posted by smrtsch at 10:31 AM on June 19, 2013 [3 favorites]

I give props to Brand though for calling them out on their baldly rude behavior.

What, no call out for his baldly rude behavior? They give him the chance to plug his product and he goes all manic adolescent but it's all cool because "wacky" is his shtick?

And frankly, in this case, he was shooting fish in a barrel. What were the odds anyone was going to come back at him? These people are paid to be bland, for God's sake.

Oh, and Bill Hicks was loads sharper and a lot funnier.

(Me, I still remember his Andrew Sachs moment, so factor that into my irritation.)
posted by IndigoJones at 10:35 AM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

(Me, I still remember his Andrew Sachs moment, so factor that into my irritation.)

Wow. I'm back to not liking Brand.
posted by mazola at 10:46 AM on June 19, 2013

As the guest are usually there to shill something

Someone -- maybe Paul Poundstone on Wait! Wait? -- recently joked that all their shows are just a promo for the following show. "Thanks for that great interview, Andrea." "And you can see Andra coming up next in Andrea Mitchell Reports where her guest will by Al Sharpton. Al will be discussing his upcoming interview with Chris Hayes."
posted by Room 641-A at 11:55 AM on June 19, 2013 [3 favorites]

I don't know why anyone takes Katty Kay seriously. She parlayed her relationship with Matt Frei into a career. She's a lightweight.
posted by fingerbang at 12:18 PM on June 19, 2013

Cookiebastard: Russel Brand Tim Minchin is something like if you took Bill Hicks' brain and transplanted it into circa 1974 Robert Plant's body, wardrobe, and ego. In the best way possible.

Tim Minchin >> Russel Brand (who is still quite alright).
posted by IAmBroom at 12:50 PM on June 19, 2013

Please, Tim Minchin is lovely and everything but he's basically a Metafilter thread about Intelligent Design in human form.
posted by fullerine at 1:55 PM on June 19, 2013 [5 favorites]

What, no call out for his baldly rude behavior?

Weirdly, I think of the 'morning host' trio as having no referent behavior, that is, no 'this is normal, reasonable, polite' behavior with which to gauge their own behavior. So that they do that weird thing of talking about him in the third person, when he's sitting right there, and etc.

I'm not a Russel Brand 'fan', I do like his writing, and/but this 'appearance' did nothing to change that. But I got the feeling Brand knew he was acting like at least a little bit of an asshole, while the other three thought all was hunky dory. Or at least, all within bounds.
posted by From Bklyn at 1:55 PM on June 19, 2013

I still remember his Andrew Sachs moment

There's some explanation of that in the link I posted earlier.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:08 PM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

I wish one of these interviewers would ask him about the time when he refused to start filming until the make-up woman showed him her tits.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:04 PM on June 19, 2013

Hmm, the actual source is the Sun. Not my first choice of reliable sources.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 5:18 PM on June 19, 2013

Why does the camera keep moving like that?
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 6:15 PM on June 19, 2013

Mark me down in the "she chose to objectify him first" category.
posted by Tasmanian_Kris at 6:40 PM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

Just saw this now. That minute where they hand him the reigns and he brings up Manning and Snowden was like he was trying to hold a mirror up to the world. Whisps of Chayefsky.
posted by dry white toast at 8:08 PM on June 19, 2013 [2 favorites]

Hmm, the actual source is the Sun. Not my first choice of reliable sources.

But completely consistent with his claims to have slept with over two thousand women, and the announcement of his intention to divorce Katy Perry by text message.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:56 PM on June 19, 2013

Peter: I remember seeing the same story reported in the UK Guardian, but I can't seem to find it online. Brand seems to alternate between being articulate, thoughtful and caring and being a narcissistic git. Who knows which is act & which is the "real" Russell Brand? Possibly not even him...
posted by pharm at 5:17 AM on June 20, 2013

On the other hand, Billy Connelly categorically denies that it ever happened in this interview in the Independent. Which might explain why the Guardian has pulled the article I read about it. The Sun has no shame of course.
posted by pharm at 5:29 AM on June 20, 2013 [4 favorites]

Yeah, I don't feel this reflected poorly on Brand at all. Those three (especially Mr. "I can't understand funny accents") came off like the two bitchy girls from last week's Mad Men who hassled Sally Draper until she brought them booze.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 6:56 AM on June 20, 2013 [2 favorites]

For UK people, Russell Brand is on Question Time tonight.
posted by pharm at 8:31 AM on June 20, 2013

The fact the announcers referred to him in the third person while he was actually present, sitting in front of them - that definitely pushed my buttons. It has happened to me in Japan in the past, and it makes me feel very cross.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:40 AM on June 20, 2013 [3 favorites]

fullerine: Please, Tim Minchin is lovely and everything but he's basically a Metafilter thread about Intelligent Design in human form.

What does that even mean? He's a staunch evolutionist, for one.
posted by IAmBroom at 8:42 AM on June 20, 2013

I was implying that your average Tim Minchin gig has about as much diversity of opinion as your average Sarah Palin rally (or MeFi thread on one of those topics). I am aware he is a staunch evolutionist and I utterly agree with him, but I find it all a little discomforting. Admittedly this is actually harsh on Mr Minchin as "Fuck The Poor" for instance does a nice line in pricking the hypocrisy of his own audience, but I still get the feeling it's a bit of an intellectually lazy self-congratulatory love-in.*

I grew up through Alternative Comedy which sometimes had a similar preaching to the converted feel. The speed with which the majority of those comedians ditched their progressive/leftist/socialist voices when they had a sniff of financial success was a sobering experience and one which has left me deeply distrustful of a room full of people laughing at The Other (even if I agree with them). I know I know, shock horror! the Oxbridge educated comedians turned out to be frightfully middle-class, but I believed maaan I really believed.

If you see the Westboro Baptist interview Brand seems genuinely annoyed at his audience for not letting them speak and it is one of the things I like about him.

Actually, thinking about it... Louis CK, Stewart Lee, Alexei Sayle, George Carlin, Frankie Boyle, Bill Hicks, Lenny Bruce, Jerry Sadowitz, Andy Kaufman... it has just occurred to me that all the stand-ups I admire seem to really hate their audience.

*Also, wear some fucking shoes
posted by fullerine at 10:53 AM on June 20, 2013

I was implying that your average Tim Minchin gig has about as much diversity of opinion as your average Sarah Palin rally (or MeFi thread on one of those topics). I am aware he is a staunch evolutionist and I utterly agree with him, but I find it all a little discomforting.

I've been to a Tim Minchin gig and it's true that it's a very self-congratulatory and smugly superior crowd to the point where it kind of put me off Tim Minchin.
posted by hoyland at 11:18 AM on June 20, 2013 [1 favorite]

Actually, thinking about it... Louis CK, Stewart Lee, Alexei Sayle, George Carlin, Frankie Boyle, Bill Hicks, Lenny Bruce, Jerry Sadowitz, Andy Kaufman... it has just occurred to me that all the stand-ups I admire seem to really hate their audience.

That's a huge turn off for me with standup.
posted by sweetkid at 11:20 AM on June 20, 2013 [1 favorite]

That does not seem true of most of the people on that list. I mean, Frankie Boyle seems to feel a degree of contempt for his audience, but, really, who wouldn't? But the others?
posted by running order squabble fest at 11:23 AM on June 20, 2013 [3 favorites]

You could only think that Stewart Lee hates his audience if you took everything he says at face value. I think he has enough respect for his audience to trust that they won't do that.
posted by ericthegardener at 12:07 PM on June 20, 2013 [4 favorites]

update: the MJ team just did another blurb on Brand and something about one of his shows getting cancelled. They also acknowledged the deluge of comments the previous piece generated and feigned befuddlement over why the vast majority of the awake, self-aware and sober world is laughing at MJ.
posted by lampshade at 5:36 AM on June 21, 2013 [1 favorite]

MoxieProxy: Then I heard him in interviews going on and on and on about his love for Katy Perry, and I stopped liking him.

You dislike him because he loved his wife? WTF?

No! lol!!

that's not what i meant at all. It seemed to me that he was using his relationship with her as a promotional tool, and it also seemed to be the only thing he wanted to discuss in interviews.
posted by MoxieProxy at 1:26 PM on June 21, 2013 [1 favorite]

People who underestimate Brand do so at their peril

Wait, am I in danger?
posted by Hoopo at 3:06 PM on June 23, 2013

Wait, am I in danger?

The arch mockneyisms were coming from inside the house!
posted by running order squabble fest at 8:24 AM on June 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

People who underestimate Brand do so at their peril. He is a very intelligent and articulate guy with a wit that's cocaine-quick, even though he apparently swore off the stuff long ago.

I thought My Booky-Wook was going to be a stupid book about things he did with famous people, but it was funny and smart.
posted by bq at 6:24 PM on June 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

It is interesting that he seemed to be more respectful of the Westboro Baptists loons than the Morning Joe loons, although I could not watch the Westboro clip to the end. Perhaps this was because they were his guests, perhaps because they didn't insult him (at least anymore than they insult everybody), .....?
posted by caddis at 8:35 AM on June 25, 2013

caddis, my impression from that interview was that he absolutely was granting them extra courtesy due to their guest status - but also because he wanted to give them enough rope to hang themselves.

It doesn't take a genius to shout down the Westboro Baptist lies. It makes for rather cheap television, in fact, and Russell isn't interested in taking that easy path.

By contrast, he came onto the morning talk show expecting to be interviewed by talk show hosts, and instead got treated like an especially alarming bobble-head toy. No need to engage those twits at all.
posted by IAmBroom at 10:08 AM on June 25, 2013

Russell Brand: what I made of Morning Joe and Question Time.
posted by adamvasco at 12:49 PM on June 28, 2013 [3 favorites]